Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has cautioned that the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers will be sort of a “battle” after his side battled through to beat Benin 2-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Bafana, who have never won the opening World Cup qualifying match since 2006 qualifiers, went top of Group C, which to start on a high note was hugely emphasized by Broos before the game started.
The inter-passing of Mamelodi Sundowns players such as Khuliso Mudau, Teboho Mokoena, and Themba Zwane, aided by that Sundowns old boy Percy Tau, left Benin bamboozled before the Al Ahly attacker lofted the ball over to see Bafana get the goal in the second minute of the game.
It was a brilliant pass by Sphephelo Sithole, who bossed the midfield for Bafana alongside Mokoena.
Crucially, before the first half ended, Bafana increased the lead when the ball ricocheted to Mudau to rifle home.
But Benin made things look nervy at the end when Steve Mounie connected well with a cutback in the 70th minute to pull his side back.
“Benin, I don’t know which ranking are they, but you can see they are playing,” said Broos at the press conference.
“You saw what happened with Nigeria (drawing at home on Thursday against Lesotho), you saw with the others (Rwanda drawing Zimbabwe at home on Wednesday).
“It will be every game a battle, they will be fighting for good results. We had that today and that is the most important (that we won).”
Bafana created plenty of chances and Broos said that augurs well for the future even though they only scored two goals because winning is the most important in this stage.
“That is not important,” said Broos when asked if they should have scored more goals.
“If you create more chances than goals or more goals than chances when you win the game, that is the most important thing in the World Cup qualifiers.
“If you have 10 chances and you lose the game, I think you will not be happy. So again, it was a tough game, and it will be tough games every time.
“So, when you can win those games, that is the most important thing. In two days, nobody talks about the game except the results (if you have created more and you lost), and this is the most important thing (to win).”
Bafana turns their attention against Rwanda in Butare on Tuesday’s second qualifying match, hoping to solidify their top spot in Group C.
Broos’ win against Benin sees the former Cameroon coach beat Rohr for the first time in three matches, having lost one and drawing the other.
